Seniors stepped up when Londonderry boys lacrosse needed them

It was like starting the regular season with a playoff game.

That was the opinion of one Division I boys lacrosse coach when he saw that Londonderry High School would be opening the season against Nashua South, and last Thursday's game looked like a postseason matchup for three quarters.

After a low-scoring first half that saw South carry a 2-1 lead into halftime, the teams combined for six goals in the first three minutes of the second half.

Londonderry carried a 6-5 lead into the fourth, but South tied it up just seconds into the quarter, and it looked like a back-and-forth game would continue to the finish.

Instead, the Lancers' seniors took over.

Tyler Grant won every faceoff the rest of the way, and Pete Navarro and Sean Snyder lifted the offense and Londonderry scored six unanswered goals to end the game, opening with a 12-6 win.

"We were just trying to find our rhythm out there," Londonderry coach Sean LeBlanc said. "We felt a little off in the first half, we couldn't really connect on anything. In the third quarter, and especially in the fourth, we really started to play Londonderry lacrosse. We like to play an uptempo style, a run-and-gun type of thing, and that's what we got into in the fourth and that’s where we’re most comfortable."

With expectations high for the Lancers this season, LeBlanc acknowledge that it's going to take that kind of effort from the seniors if Londonderry is going to get where it wants to go.

"We expect a lot of those guys and I called them out at halftime to help us turn this game around," the coach said. "Pete Navarro is just an unbelievable athlete and he took over the fourth quarter for us. Snyder is our leader and paces our offense. We got on him to calm down and settle everyone and start making better decisions, and that's what he did.

"Tyler Grant dominated (faceoffs in) the second half. There's no way we would have had that comeback without him. He got us the ball and it was pretty much make-it, take-it for us, and when you have that luxury, it's nice."

Like many other teams in the state, Londonderry hadn't had many opportunities to get on its field before last Thursday's game, and that may have contributed to the slow start.

But breaking out the way the Lancers did in the final 12 minutes has LeBlanc hopefully that they can overcome whatever setbacks the season has already handed out.

"This was probably our second time on a full field and it showed a little bit," he said. "I feel good about the way we finished, but we could have had a better game overall. Moving forward, we're going to focus on that fourth quarter."

Londonderry (1-0) is scheduled to play its second game of the year Tuesday at Salem (2-2).